The invention pertains to a method and a device for the local processing of casting data in a process computer used to control the continuous casting installation, these data being in the form of measurement data obtained from sensors on a continuous casting mold.
In continuous casting installations, horizontal rows of thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors are mounted on the continuous casting mold. The conducting wires from these thermocouples, each with two connections, pass via terminal boxes to a so-called trunk cable. In the case where, for example, 60 thermocouples and 40 resistance temperature detectors are used, there are 240 thermal signal lines, all of which must be guided to the trunk cable.
First, these thermal signal lines pass to transducers. The trunk cable is connected by means of multicouplings (couplings and opposing couplings) to a power supply on the nonmoving part of the continuous casting installation, i.e., on so-called “solid ground”, outside the oscillating continuous casting mold. All the thermal signal lines, the terminal boxes, and the trunk cable are exposed to temperatures of approximately 60–100° C. In addition to the heat, there is also the contamination attributable to splashes of slag, for example, which is an unavoidable part of the casting operation, and there is also moisture to deal with. Because the thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors operate at voltages in the range of 10–500 mV, the electromagnetic fields of other components on the continuous casting mold also have an effect. This design is associated with long replacement times, a large amount of assembly work, a large amount of installation and cabling work, high material costs, and a large amount of maintenance work for various units on the continuous casting mold (e.g., the adjusting drive for the end plates, for distance sensors, for remote stations for temperature measurement sites, etc.).
A device for determining the level of the melt in a continuous casting mold (DE-OS 2,655,640) belongs to the state of the art. This design, however, merely provides means for detachably installing a detector box in the water jacket of the continuous casting mold and for installing inlet and outlet means for the cooling water in the detector box, so that the cooling water can be guided through the detector box to cool the electromagnetic coil installed in it along with the protective housing. This solution therefore cannot be applied to the thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors mounted on the continuous casting mold. The measurement method is also configured in a different manner.